For a decade, Florida lawmakers have debated whether to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. Advocates are trying to circumvent the legislature and take the issue directly to voters.
A former Georgia insurance commissioner is pleading guilty to conspiring to commit health care fraud. John W. Oxendine of Johns Creek entered the guilty plea Friday in federal court in Atlanta. The crime is punishable by up to 10 years in prison, but the 61-year-old Oxendine is likely to be sentenced to less.
A late proposal to fully expand Medicaid received a surprise hearing in a Senate committee Thursday but was narrowly defeated, with the chairman who allowed the hearing casting the decisive vote to shelve it.
Rates are so bad in Native American communities that public health experts have asked the federal government to declare an emergency. Inadequate prenatal care may be partly to blame.
The number of newborns born with syphilis – a serious sexually transmitted infection – has skyrocketed 755% from 2012 to 2021. These babies have congenital syphilis, which is when the infection is passed from mother to baby during pregnancy. It can have dire consequences if left untreated.
The surge has left medical professionals and public health leaders scrambling for solutions to stop the spread. Today on the show, Chicago based journalist Indira Khera talks to Emily Kwong about what's behind this mysterious public health crisis – and brings us inside Illinois' Perinatal Syphilis Warmline.
Republican Gov. Brian Kemp’s Georgia Pathways to Coverage program has seen anemic enrollment while chalking up millions in start-up costs — largely in technology and consulting fees. Critics say the money’s being wasted on a costly and ineffective alternative to Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion.
A troubling new report from Louisiana shows how the state's abortion ban from 2022 is forcing doctors to delay or withhold medical care in ways that make pregnancy more dangerous.
Atlanta residents Renee and Clyde Smith were among the first Americans to contract the virus in February of 2020 while passengers on the Diamond Princess cruise ship. The couple, now 84 years old, spent three weeks quarantining in Japan.
The unrest has dealt a devastating blow to health care. Staff face the possibility of attack and abduction. Patients could lose their lives en route — or in a hospital where services are curtailed.
At a time when colorectal cancer is rising, researchers say a blood test can detect 83% of people with the disease. If the FDA approves it the test would be another screening tool for early detection.
We've probably said it a hundred times on Code Switch — biological race is not a real thing. So why is race still used to help diagnose certain conditions, like keloids or cystic fibrosis? On this episode, Dr. Andrea Deyrup breaks it down for us, and unpacks the problems she sees with practicing race-based medicine.
This week marks four years since the outbreak of Covid-19 was officially declared a pandemic. One of the most vexing legacies — one that science still hasn't solved — is long Covid. That's the debilitating condition that can develop in the aftermath of an infection.
Millions of Americans are living with the often debilitating symptoms that can include brain fog, shortness of breath, and low energy. Some struggle with simple daily living tasks like laundry and cooking.
Four years since the pandemic hit, patients with long Covid are still fighting for answers.
For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.